Aston Villa will entertain Leeds United at the Villa Park looking to continue their climb up the Skybet Championship table. Steve Bruce’s team has been in majestic form in the league which has mainly been down to the rich vein of form of his players. They will now look to secure the three points when they clash heads with the West Yorkshire giants this week.
Meanwhile, the Peacocks have struggled in the league this season, which has mainly been down to the inconsistency of their squad. Paul Heckingbottom is looking to finish the season strong so that they can give themselves an ideal platform to push for a promotion back to the Premier League next term. However, getting a positive result versus a rampant Villa side will be a mammoth task for Leeds.
The recent history of this fixture makes a grim reading for the Villans as they have not tasted a win in any of their previous three encounters with the West Yorkshire club. Bruce is expected to stick with his favoured 4-1-4-1 formation to counter Heckingbottom’s 4-2-3-1 formation.
Team News
Aston Villa
Axel Tuanzebe will be out of action for the Villa for quite some time after he suffered a serious injury in his last league outing. John Terry will be in a race against time to be fit for this clash on Friday night. There are also doubts about Birkir Bjarnason’s availability in this gameweek.
Leeds United
The Peacocks have a lot of injury concerns ahead of this clash versus Villa. Pontus Jansson will be in for a late fitness test while Liam Cooper, Matthew Pennington, Laurens De Bock, Luke Ayling, Conor Shaughnessy, Adam Forshaw, Eunan O’Kane and Tyler Roberts are all major doubts for this game on Friday.
Predicted Line-Ups
Aston Villa
Johnstone, Elmohamady, Chester, Jedinak, Bree, Whelan, Hourihane, Grealish, Snodgrass, Adomah, Hogan
Leeds United
Peacock-Farrell, Dallas, O’Connor, Jansson, Pearce, Phillips, Vieira, Hernandez, Saiz, Alioski, Roofe
Key Men
Aston Villa
Albert Adomah will once again be crucial in the opposition half for the Villans while the defensive duo of James Chester and Mile Jedinak will need to keep things tight at the back.
Leeds United
Bailey Peacock-Farrell will need to have a sensational game in goal for Leeds if the away team are to have any chance of getting a result on the day. A lot will also ride on the shoulders of Pablo Hernandez who will be responsible to provide the spark in the final third.
Odds
Aston Villa win: 4/7
Draw: 3/1
Leeds United win: 19/4
